//------------------------------// // Nacht Jäger- The finale of the Everfree Forest // Story: Equestrian Throwdown // by Hex Mark //------------------------------// Taurus and Skylark both gritted their teeth while deliberating their next move, the human glancing at the minotaur then at the displacer beast, which let out a loud roar. Two on one..the odds would be nice...except I don't have any thing remotely similar to a weapon- so wide-sweeps are not an option for me. he thought, but soon the displacer beast lunged at the spot in between them. "It's coming from your left!" he warned as the minotaur moved, just barely avoiding a fatal strike from the creature, although he received a lash to the chest from the spiked tentacles. "Damn it! You better come up with something better than your little dirt watching strategy! This is bullshit!" the minotaur shouted and began to attack with wide swings from his hammer. Skylark saw that kept the beast at bay for a bit, but then realized from the movements of the blades of grass that it focused its attention onto him. What the ponies in the stadium would see as random dancing were evasive movements as Skylark at least knew where the attacks were coming from. "OOH! OOH! Is this a new dance!?" Pinkie Pie asked, hopping in her attempts to imitate the human, a bright smile on her face while the rest of the crowd roared with laughter at Skylark's amusing movements. From side-steps to twirls, even a somersault, it was like he was putting on a show for the ponies. "Why is he doing that?" Cobalt and Lyra questioned simultaneously and Onyx smirked. "He caught onto my creature's ability." he started, looking at the two. "You noticed how his eyes were on the grass, if I'm not mistaken. He is guessing the movements of the displacer beast through the real body disrupting the grass...but even so, to dodge with such precision, he must have something else going for him." Onyx Heart reasoned, and Lyra sighed softly. "I just hope he'll be ok..." she said Running is not an option, and I can't keep dodging forever. he thought as he jumped back to get out of reach."Damn it, we'll never win like this." he finally agreed with Taurus before thinking of a plan. He sighed at the notion that he was left with no further options as he continued dodging the creature's attacks, but suddenly stopped when he noticed the creature stopped and that Taurus had been tripped over. SHIT! the human thought, wiping his index and middle fingers across the bleeding wound. "Son of a cow!" the minotaur shouted, having dropped his hammer before hitting the ground. He only heard the growling of the displacer beast above him, having been pinned down. Cobalt Horn flinched, but tensed up and punched the air with his hoof. "Come on! You can do better than that!" he shouted in anger as Onyx Heart stared. "Looks like this might be it for Cobalt Horn's minotaur, folks! As powerful as he was, he could not handle the deception of the- what's this?!" The announcer asked, having just noticed Skylark sprinting towards the minotaur's impromptu weapon. "Lyra Heartstring's representative seems to have taken to the offensive- but what could he possibly hope to accomplish that Cobalt's representative could not?" he asked dramatically, but eventually he- and everypony else in the stadium, got their answer. "Nacht Jäger!" Skylark shouted right when his hands gripped the branch-handle, and with an astonishing burst of speed, swung the hammer just above Taurus's head- blood spurting from seemingly nowhere until the illusion faded, the displacer beast having been struck by the jagged edge. As a tentacle was severed from its back, the cat was sent tumbling from the force of the attack, its purple blood soaking the jagged stone. "I can't believe my eyes, everypony! Our mystery monster had just saved the minotaur's life, but what could he possibly gain from such a deed?" the announcer asked, and Lyra cheered for her human's moment of triumph, Cobalt Horn staring at the display in shock before looking at Lyra in disbelief. Onyx's pupils shrank slightly, but he retained his composure while watching. "That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash cheered, but saw Twilight's expression. She was genuinely shocked that Lyra's familiar pulled off such a feat in a split second. "You ok, Twi?" she asked, and the unicorn nodded. "Yeah, but that one is interesting to say the least...Could the power of friendship possibly have a thing to do with it?" she wondered before the focus went back to the trio in the forest. Tossing the hammer over his shoulder so Taurus could catch it, Skylark knelt down to pick up the severed tentacle, staring at the displacer beast as it struggled to get up. "Not bad, not bad at all, kid." the minotaur complimented the human, who didn't spare him a glance just yet, but smirked as he got ready to fight. "What, are you going to suggest we use this chance to run?" he asked, but blinked when the human looked at him, showing his eyes had turned from blue to gold. A rather confident, if not feral smirk was plastered on his face. "Bullshit! We're taking this thing down!" he replied, and the minotaur let out a confident roar. "Now you're talking my language!" he smirked as the two looked at the wounded cat before charging at it with their makeshift weapons- a stone hammer and a tentacle-flail. The displacer beast tried to pounce, but received a sudden lash to the face with its severed spiked tentacle, distracting it and letting Taurus smash it in the side with his hammer. "This is unheard of- it's incredible! Cobalt and Lyra's monsters have teamed up against Onyx's beast!" the announcer commented while the crowd cheered at the new development. Lyra smiled brightly, Cobalt cheered while Onyx closed his eyes. The human ran forward, outpacing the minotaur and the displacer beast, swinging his improvised flail into the other spiked tentacle, tearing it off of the feline as it howled in agony. It's attempt to lash out at the first assailant only allowed it to take another harsh blow, this time to the face, by Taurus. Grabbing the second tentacle, the golden eyed human went for a gutsy move, swinging both spiked whips into the creature's throat and leaping over it with inhuman agility, restraining it from trying to run away. It howled in agony, blood spurting from its throat and mouth before the minotaur crushed the beast's skull with his hammer. The crowd roared at the duo's victory, and although Fluttershy had kept her eyes shut the entire time, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were relieved to see their friend's representative succeed. "I've never seen such teamwork in the three years these games have been up! But now we have to see what the two will do with each-other since their common enemy is no more. Unfortunately, the unicorns projecting the fight are getting tired, so we won't see the results until after the contestants escape the forest. Speaking of which, our first just came out of the forest." The announcer directed their attention to a puddle which formed into a pony- Erubetie had slipped her way through the forest unharmed. She was then joined by a black dog and three other monsters. Back with Taurus and Skylark, the two stared at the fresh corpse of the displacer beast, the minotaur looking at his hammer, which had broken into pieces from the constant use. Finally deciding to speak after an awkward silence, Taurus looked at the human. "So, what now?" he asked, for once sounding uncertain about what to do- having witnessed the human's abilities so far. He blinked when the human turned to look at him, his eyes fading back to their normal blue color with a smile on his face. "Dinner?" he suggested, and about ten minutes later, the two were sitting with a camp-fire between them, each cooking a skinned hind-leg of the displacer beast over the flames. The the two stayed silent for a bit, at least until Skylark decided to ask a rather random question. "So...what was your home like before you were warped here?" he asked, checking on the meat as the minotaur smiled. "It was a real warrior's paradise. Anyone who fought would know praise Hell- you'd probably be a star there with your crazy gnat-jaguar or whatever you called it." he chuckled, bringing a soft smile to the human's face. "That's why I am excited to be a part of this game. Same rules, different locale." he added, but soon the minotaur wondered. "What about your home?" he asked, and the human checked his roasting leg again, finding it to be just right for him, nice and juicy as he took a bite out of it. Swallowing, the human took a breath. "Too large to describe..although all I ever knew was a home near a forest like this one. People just didn't value those with power as much as those in your home do- I'll tell you that." he explained, looking up at the stars. "I can't say I like this game, but I am grateful to be a part of it." he stated his contradictory opinion before looking back down. "It is kinda strange...I guess you could say this is my second chance." he explained before taking another bite out of the cooked cat leg while Taurus began to eat his displacer beast leg. A soft growling directed their attention to the side, seeing a pack of wolves. While Taurus grunted, annoyed at this, Miles stood up with an amused chuckle. "Relax, they mean us no harm yet." he instructed, lobbing the rest of his cat-leg in the direction of the carcass, to which the wolves gathered up and started to eat. "Come on, we've overstayed our welcome here." he stated, and Taurus followed his lead- leaving the wolves to their free meal as the fire died out. About an hour later, the two finally exited the forest to see the five other monsters, and the announcer chimed in. "And our last two rookie familiars have made it out of the forest! That means that two from the yellow block, two of the blue block, and all but one of the red block have been wiped out! Let's give a round of applause to our seven survivors!" the announcer called as the crowd roared. Skylark looked around, only to be knocked clean off of his feet as Lyra had tackled him, hugging him as they both hit the ground. "I'm so glad you're safe! I don't know what I..." she didn't even finish her sentence before she began to nuzzle her human's face, but the galloping of ponies rushing to meet them flooded Skylark's ears. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cheered while Applejack smiled, nudging him. "Hoo-wee! I gotta admit, I've never seen a fight as intense as that!" she complimented him while Lyra got off of him and Twilight helped him stand up. "As we have a great deal of preparation for the next challenge, we will be taking the next couple of days off. Until then, have fun!" the announcer bid the crowd farewell. As the group returned to the main hall of the stadium, Lyra was approached by one of the officials, handed a pouch filled with bits. Even though it was a preliminary round, Lyra had just received her first payment, and after reading how much was in it, she smiled and brushed against her human once again. "I really appreciate this, Skylark." she thanked her familiar, who rubbed the back of his head with a soft smile. "No need to thank me. But you're not out of the woods yet, Master." he replied, although Twilight Sparkle felt like she had to cut in. "I think we should all head to Ponyville. It is one of the last two 'calm' places left." the purple unicorn instructed the group, and they unanimously agreed on it, following Twilight Sparkle out of the stadium. Exhaustion was then getting to the human, who let out a loud yawn. The sooner they got there, the sooner he could get some sleep. Eventually, the nine reached Ponyville, and the human was surprised at the feeling of the very air- it felt like it had a much calmer atmosphere than the colosseum did- but it was not a bad thing. The human relaxed, a bit too much as his eyes closed and he had fallen foward, being caught by his master. "Skylark?" she asked, only to hear him snore softly, causing her to giggle. "That game must've tuckered him out!" Applejack chuckled while Lyra hoisted her familiar onto her back. He was pretty light compared to the ponies, so he was easier to carry. "I'll just take him back to my place, at least I can make him comfy while he sleeps." Lyra yawned, before bidding her friends farewell, going back to her home with the human in tow. Putting the bit bag in a safe spot, the unicorn carried her human to her bedroom, gently placing him on the bed before, after a moment of thinking, climbing in and hugging herself against him. She brought her mouth to his ear, regardless of whether or not he could hear her, and whispered "Good night, Miles.." before drifting off to sleep. (tbc)